Piston (Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide, or Unity of Drivers’ and Operators’ Associations Nationwide) ridiculed the Marcos regime’s latest fuel subsidy and service contracting scheme for public utility vehicle drivers. These schemes are failed, overdue and inutile solutions that do not solve the problem of high petroleum prices.

“Over a month has passed since the US aggression war caused the oil crisis. To this day, the useless and insensitive Marcos government offers band-aid and inadequate solutions,” Piston president Mody Floranda said.

The ₱10/liter fuel subsidy is a massive deception, he said.

“For every ₱10/liter subsidy, the regime extorts ₱25/liter from drivers in the form of taxes,” Floranda said. “The government pockets ₱15/L as profit.”

The government’s additional VAT income is estimated at ₱161 million daily since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, with a total of around ₱5 billion.

Availing the paltry benefit even requires drivers to open an account in a Landbank app.

Deceptive contracting scheme

Meanwhile, the regime is duping drivers into serving the government under the net service contracting scheme, Floranda said.

“In reality, this further diverts the government’s responsibility to regulate the oil cartels’ and corporations’ greed for profits,” he said. It also serves to evade reducing overdue VAT and excise tax payments, and an additional excuse to block the twin calls for fare hike and wage hike.

The net service contracting scheme for PUVs will provide ₱40-₱100 per kilometer to 50,000 PUVs and 1,000 operators only on routes connected to trains and bus routes. It will use GPS for monitoring, and valid only during “off-peak” or dead hours.

“50,000 PUVs is ridiculously small compared to the actual number,” Piston said. Traditional jeepneys already number 128,000. Including others, 300,000 PUVs or public utility vehicles suffer from the sky-high diesel prices, according to the group.

Likewise, drivers will earn almost nothing from this scheme. The subsidy amounts to only ₱320-₱800 income per minimum route trip, where drivers spend ₱510 on diesel at ₱170/L price. This will earn drivers only ₱290 per such trip.

“The paltry income is a huge insult for the service drivers provide,” Piston said.

Roll back prices

Instead of conducting image-boosting and deceptions, the Marcos government should regulate oil companies’ greed, the group said.

“Petron, Shell, Caltex, Unioil cartels amassed profits from the crisis caused by the US and Israel war.” According to a study, these companies earned a total of ₱46.5 billion or around ₱1.5 billion daily since February 28.

“The government must junk the oil deregulation law, end ‘replacement cost pricing,’ and compel oil companies to roll back prices,” Piston said.